First of all, your fish is not going to be comfortable at ALL, if you keep it cooped up in a bowl. You should never ever keep any living thing in a bowl unless it is newly hatched fry, or a snail. Not even one ghost shrimp could live in that bowl.
If your fish is a Comet/Shubunkin/Koi Goldfish, a 55 gallon tank, as said above IS needed. I suggest you take the Goldfish back, and get your kid a 20 gallon tank, and then you can put ONE Fancy Goldfish in it. You should have a filter, air stone, gravel, and live plants, you should cycle your tank first, and you should use water conditioner when caring for fish when you do a water change...How often should I change the water of a 1 gallon aquarium?Not only is the bowl too small for a filter, but the bowl is too small for the goldfish. Really. Comet goldfish grow to 12-16 inches long. They need at the very least a 55 gallon aquarium. If you just have a 1 gallon bowl, the only thing you should have in there is candy.How often should I change the water of a 1 gallon aquarium?hi im ive made the same mistake it will eventually die but if you buy another fish i would go for a male or female betta they live in small tanks but if you do i would buy a cheap airpumpHow often should I change the water of a 1 gallon aquarium?You wouldn't rely solely on the advice of a car salesman when buying a new car, same goes for pet store employees. Their sole aim is to make money. If you hadn't come onto the internet, you would know no better, the fish would die and there would be a high chance of you buying another, and another, and another, feeding Petsmart's cash register.
Right, so yes, a 1 gallon tank is actually too small for ANYTHING, not even a Betta.
Pick up at least a 10-15 gallon tank for now (you can often find ones on say ebay or craiglist for a fraction of the price) but bear in mind that Goldfish will get LARGE. Fancies get at least the size of a tennis ball excluding fins, and common/comets get over 12%26quot; (they're pond fish, not tank fish). In the long term a fancy goldfish needs more like 30-40 gallons. Commons/comets need at least a 500-600 gallon outdoor pond, the dimensions on a tank are wrong for them.
When you get that larger tank you need to cycle it, and as you've done this a bit backwards, you can try and cycle with the goldfish, but bear in mind that process will damage a fish internally and externally and shorten their lifespan.
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/The_Nitro
Goldfish, as do all fish, NEED a filter, it holds essential bacteria that keeps the water parameters stable. A fish tank is a very unnatural place for a fish to be and needs a lot of maintenance. Your Goldfish, in that tiny 1 gallon, will turn the water toxic within 12 hours. You need to do at least 50%-75% DAILY water changes with dechlorinated tap water. And feed once every other day, it will stop the fish making too much mess, until you've got the bigger tank. Those large water changes are very stressful for the fish, it's a lose lose situation in a tiny unfiltered tank!
So you have two options, return tank and fish to the store and slap their wrists for being naughty, or upgrade tomorrow!
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/GoldfishHow often should I change the water of a 1 gallon aquarium?Pet store assistants will know next to nothing about fish keeping! NO goldfish, not any type, can be kept in a 1 gallon tank. Most need at least 50 litres to keep them happy. I would either return the fish, and then do A LOT more research! Please don't keep it in there!
Also, are you keeping it in normal tap water?!?! You are seriously ill-informed. You have to keep them in de-chlorinated water.
Btw: In the future, do research on trustworthy internet sourcesHow often should I change the water of a 1 gallon aquarium?asking someone at petsmart for advice is not research... they just want to make the sale and get profit. But as the above people stated, goldfish need alot of room and cannot be put into bowls.
edit: also, adding tap water or filtered water will auto kill your fish, you need a conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine.
ps - the fish hobby is not as simple as sticking a fish in water, it is a very complex hobby requiring extensive knowledge, a petsmart employee most likely is useless. Do research online before buying fish.
